Buzz didn't wait for the metal limb to swing again.
He bolted so fast his legs barely remembered how to agree with each other.
Zza sprinted beside him, hair wild, breathing sharp, silk spooling behind her in frantic threads. Alma limped but kept up, swearing in ways that would cook stone. The Elder floated a little too calmly for the moment, which somehow made everything worse.
The cracked creature clung to Buzz's chest, trembling so hard its bones felt like they buzzed against his ribs. It buried its face into him, terrified breaths scraping through its throat.
Behind them the chamber roared awake.
A limb shot out of the wall—long, polished, cruel.
Another followed.
Two more snapped open with metallic hunger, all reaching for the one thing Buzz refused to let go of.
Zza yelled, "Left! Left—Buzz, left—"
He stumbled toward the direction she pointed, almost tripping on his own claws. A metal spike slammed into the ground exactly where his back had been.
